Word for Mac 2008 compatibility with PCs

[kirkkrekeler]

Anyone experience this? After creating Word for Mac 2008 documents and
sending to clients running Word for Windows 2003, tables blow up the document.
Each row of a table somehow includes a page break in Word for Windows 2003 so
one table now runs 20 pages! It's not just in tables, though. I sent a script
in which three paragraphs copied and pasted from another document. For some
reason, each line had a page break when viewed in Word for Windows 2003.
Aside from the fact that the three paragraphs were copied from another
document, they were no different than other paragraphs in the document. Same
style applied, same fonts, same everything. The crazy thing is these
documents look fine in Word for Windows 2002. They only blow up in Word for
Windows 2003.

I can't believe this isn't a major issue with Microsoft. Shouldn't this have
been fixed in the June update?

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Kirk -

Did it occur to you that the problem just *might* be on the other end? If
you aren't experiencing the problem yourself & other users aren't either
that's actually the *first* thing I'd suspect ... Especially if all the
2003 users are in the same location/organization. The update condition of
their software may very well be involved even if that's not the case.

Have you tried zipping the files before sending them - I'm assuming you mean
as attachments to email. Do you know whether the 2003 users experiencing the
problem are on Exchange Server as their mail system? If it isn't configured
correctly it can wreak havoc with attachments from Macs even if they're
properly encoded.

Zipping help prevent that from happening. It also forces the recipient to
Save the file to their local HD rather than simply double-clicking the
attachment icon. Until the attachment is saved locally it isn't really a
complete "file" & what's being opened from the server can't be interpreted
accurately. It's appalling how many PC users still haven't been informed of
this or continue to ignore the advice. IMHO this is particularly true with
OOXML files - regardless of originating from 2008 or 2007 - because they're
actually a "package" of files which the mail server doesn't understand.

In addition to zipping, if the recipient doesn't need to be able to edit the
documents I'd suggest you send them PDFs in the first place. If they do need
to revise, send them both.

I imagine John McGhie will be along shortly to comment on the subject, so
continue to check back for more replies.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[kirkkrekeler via MacKB.com]

Thank you for your suggestions. Yes, initially I thought it was a problem
with my client's installation of Word for Windows 2003. But after he reviewed
the document on five computers at his company and all computers displayed the
same problem, I downloaded a Word for Windows 2003 reader from Microsoft's
site and loaded it on a PC. He was right. The tables were all messed up with
page breaks after each row. The document was fine in Word for Mac 2008 and
Word for Windows 2002, but not in the Word for Windows 2003 version. It had
nothing to do with how they were emailed or saved or zipped or not zipped.
Mac and PC versions of Word are just not 100 percent compatible. Period. Now
I have to proof every document on a Windows machine running Word for Windows
2003 before sending to anyone. It seems like someone at Microsoft would have
done that before releasing Word for Mac 2008. And yes, I've read many posts
suggesting to send along a PDF. That's like saying, "If the Word doc I'm
sending is messed up, use the PDF." We often make changes at either end and
track changes, so PDFs aren't the answer anyway. Besides, why should clients
have to deal with PDFs? They can just hire freelancers who use PCs and be
assured compatibility with Word documents. I regret switching from PC. Sure,
the Windows operating system isn't as slick as Leopard, but you can send Word
documents and not have to worry whether the recipient can read them.

Hi Kirk -

Did it occur to you that the problem just *might* be on the other end? If
you aren't experiencing the problem yourself & other users aren't either
that's actually the *first* thing I'd suspect ... Especially if all the
2003 users are in the same location/organization. The update condition of
their software may very well be involved even if that's not the case.

Have you tried zipping the files before sending them - I'm assuming you mean
as attachments to email. Do you know whether the 2003 users experiencing the
problem are on Exchange Server as their mail system? If it isn't configured
correctly it can wreak havoc with attachments from Macs even if they're
properly encoded.

Zipping help prevent that from happening. It also forces the recipient to
Save the file to their local HD rather than simply double-clicking the
attachment icon. Until the attachment is saved locally it isn't really a
complete "file" & what's being opened from the server can't be interpreted
accurately. It's appalling how many PC users still haven't been informed of
this or continue to ignore the advice. IMHO this is particularly true with
OOXML files - regardless of originating from 2008 or 2007 - because they're
actually a "package" of files which the mail server doesn't understand.

In addition to zipping, if the recipient doesn't need to be able to edit the
documents I'd suggest you send them PDFs in the first place. If they do need
to revise, send them both.

I imagine John McGhie will be along shortly to comment on the subject, so
continue to check back for more replies.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Anyone experience this? After creating Word for Mac 2008 documents and
sending to clients running Word for Windows 2003, tables blow up the document.

[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]

I can't believe this isn't a major issue with Microsoft. Shouldn't this have
been fixed in the June update?

 

[CyberTaz]

Well, I'm not sure what to tell you. I have Word 2003 and Word Viewer
installed here & have successfully opened a number of .docx files created in
Word 2008. Some were former 2004 files or 2003 files saved in .docx by 2008,
some wee Excel content pasted into Word files as tables, etc. None of them
exhibited the problems you describe.

Those results combined with what you've reported suggest that there may be
something about the table formatting or content that is contributing to the
issue... Especially since 2002 has no trouble nor do you have a problem
reopening the files with 2008. What more can you offer in the way of
document/table-specific information?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Thank you for your suggestions. Yes, initially I thought it was a problem
with my client's installation of Word for Windows 2003. But after he reviewed
the document on five computers at his company and all computers displayed the
same problem, I downloaded a Word for Windows 2003 reader from Microsoft's
site and loaded it on a PC. He was right. The tables were all messed up with
page breaks after each row. The document was fine in Word for Mac 2008 and
Word for Windows 2002, but not in the Word for Windows 2003 version. It had
nothing to do with how they were emailed or saved or zipped or not zipped.
Mac and PC versions of Word are just not 100 percent compatible. Period. Now
I have to proof every document on a Windows machine running Word for Windows
2003 before sending to anyone. It seems like someone at Microsoft would have
done that before releasing Word for Mac 2008. And yes, I've read many posts
suggesting to send along a PDF. That's like saying, "If the Word doc I'm
sending is messed up, use the PDF." We often make changes at either end and
track changes, so PDFs aren't the answer anyway. Besides, why should clients
have to deal with PDFs? They can just hire freelancers who use PCs and be
assured compatibility with Word documents. I regret switching from PC. Sure,
the Windows operating system isn't as slick as Leopard, but you can send Word
documents and not have to worry whether the recipient can read them.

Hi Kirk -

Did it occur to you that the problem just *might* be on the other end? If
you aren't experiencing the problem yourself & other users aren't either
that's actually the *first* thing I'd suspect ... Especially if all the
2003 users are in the same location/organization. The update condition of
their software may very well be involved even if that's not the case.

Have you tried zipping the files before sending them - I'm assuming you mean
as attachments to email. Do you know whether the 2003 users experiencing the
problem are on Exchange Server as their mail system? If it isn't configured
correctly it can wreak havoc with attachments from Macs even if they're
properly encoded.

Zipping help prevent that from happening. It also forces the recipient to
Save the file to their local HD rather than simply double-clicking the
attachment icon. Until the attachment is saved locally it isn't really a
complete "file" & what's being opened from the server can't be interpreted
accurately. It's appalling how many PC users still haven't been informed of
this or continue to ignore the advice. IMHO this is particularly true with
OOXML files - regardless of originating from 2008 or 2007 - because they're
actually a "package" of files which the mail server doesn't understand.

In addition to zipping, if the recipient doesn't need to be able to edit the
documents I'd suggest you send them PDFs in the first place. If they do need
to revise, send them both.

I imagine John McGhie will be along shortly to comment on the subject, so
continue to check back for more replies.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Anyone experience this? After creating Word for Mac 2008 documents and
sending to clients running Word for Windows 2003, tables blow up the
document.

[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]

I can't believe this isn't a major issue with Microsoft. Shouldn't this have
been fixed in the June update?

 

[kirkkrekeler via MacKB.com]

You are correct that the .docx format does not corrupt tables (at least in my
experience). Tables are corrupted when saving to the .doc format (Word 97-
2004 documents). Why do I use .doc instead of the newer .docx format? Because
the .docx format is unusable for two reasons: The most important one is that
many clients do not have the converter installed in their Word for Windows
2002 or 2003 and won't be able to read the file (and I can't expect everyone
to install converters just because I bought a Mac). The other reason is that
Word for Mac 2008 documents that are converted to Word for Windows 2003
randomly drop spaces between words! This doesn't just happen to me. I've seen
it documented in a number of posts. Who has the time to proof-read 200-page
documents looking for deleted spaces? Until the entire world is using the .
docx format, it's worthless to me.

Well, I'm not sure what to tell you. I have Word 2003 and Word Viewer
installed here & have successfully opened a number of .docx files created in
Word 2008. Some were former 2004 files or 2003 files saved in .docx by 2008,
some wee Excel content pasted into Word files as tables, etc. None of them
exhibited the problems you describe.

Those results combined with what you've reported suggest that there may be
something about the table formatting or content that is contributing to the
issue... Especially since 2002 has no trouble nor do you have a problem
reopening the files with 2008. What more can you offer in the way of
document/table-specific information?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Thank you for your suggestions. Yes, initially I thought it was a problem
with my client's installation of Word for Windows 2003. But after he reviewed

[quoted text clipped - 59 lines]

 

[kirkkrekeler via MacKB.com]

I may have figured out my problem. While I have been saving my files as "Word
97-2004 documents" (.doc) to ensure compatibility with clients, I have had
compatibility (under Word/Preferences/Compatibility) set to "Microsoft Word
2000-2004 and X" (thinking that this would make documents compatible with
Word for Windows 2002 and 2003). I tried changing the compatibility setting
to "Microsoft Word 2007-2008" (still saving as a Word 97-2004 .doc file) and
all the documents I've been having trouble with display properly in Word for
Windows 2002 and 2003. I don't really understand the logic (since I want
compatibility with 2000-2004), but if it works it works. In addition, I have
to remember to check each document to make sure "save preview picture with
document" is unchecked.

Hopefully, this will work with future documents. Thanks for your help.

Well, I'm not sure what to tell you. I have Word 2003 and Word Viewer
installed here & have successfully opened a number of .docx files created in
Word 2008. Some were former 2004 files or 2003 files saved in .docx by 2008,
some wee Excel content pasted into Word files as tables, etc. None of them
exhibited the problems you describe.

Those results combined with what you've reported suggest that there may be
something about the table formatting or content that is contributing to the
issue... Especially since 2002 has no trouble nor do you have a problem
reopening the files with 2008. What more can you offer in the way of
document/table-specific information?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Thank you for your suggestions. Yes, initially I thought it was a problem
with my client's installation of Word for Windows 2003. But after he reviewed

[quoted text clipped - 59 lines]